Continue.dev — Northern Inference docs

Continue is an open-source VS Code / JetBrains plugin. It speaks OpenAI-compatible out of the box.

Config

Open ~/.continue/config.yaml (or use Continue → Settings → Open Config):

name: Northern Inference
version: 0.0.1

models:
  - name: Claude Sonnet 4.5 (NI, CA residency)
    provider: openai
    model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
    apiBase: https://northerninference.ca/v1
    apiKey: ni_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE
    requestOptions:
      extraBodyProperties:
        privacy_tier: managed_canadian_cloud

  - name: GPT-4o (NI, provider tier)
    provider: openai
    model: openai/gpt-4o
    apiBase: https://northerninference.ca/v1
    apiKey: ni_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE
    requestOptions:
      extraBodyProperties:
        privacy_tier: provider_api

  - name: Claude Haiku 4.5 (fast, cheap)
    provider: openai
    model: anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5
    apiBase: https://northerninference.ca/v1
    apiKey: ni_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE

tabAutocompleteModel:
  name: Claude Haiku 4.5 (autocomplete)
  provider: openai
  model: anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5
  apiBase: https://northerninference.ca/v1
  apiKey: ni_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE

Key points

**provider: openai** — Continue treats any OpenAI-compatible endpoint this way.
**extraBodyProperties.privacy_tier** — Continue passes these straight into the

request body. Use this to pin a tier per model entry.

**tabAutocompleteModel** — use a cheap, fast model (Haiku) for this. Every

keystroke hits the API.

Verify

In Continue's chat panel, ask:

Which model are you?

Then check portal → Usage for the request to appear.

Cost control

Continue fires a request on almost every keystroke when autocomplete is enabled. A separate low-budget key for the autocomplete model is a good idea: portal → Keys → Create key → Daily spend cap.